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Comparison
Two family houses, two richly pigmented water-based paints — one English, one French. Mylands (London, 1884) makes everything in a single manufactory and sells its Marble Matt Emulsion — a 3% matt, class 1 washable, covering 15 m²/L — at €121.00 for 2.5 L. Ressource (Provence; company founded 1946, brand created 1998) offers over 600 shades, some ten interior finishes — from the 2% Mat Poudré, washable with care, to the scrubbable Laque Mate — and eleven shops in France. Here is the detail, figures included.
Comparison updated September 2026 · sources at the foot of the page
The starting point
If you are torn between Mylands and Ressource, you are looking for the same thing: deep colour rather than a catalogue white, a matt surface, a water-based paint that does not smell of solvent, and a house of human scale rather than a group. On those points the two are alike. Both are family-owned and independent — the sixth generation at Mylands, the fourth at Ressource; both make their own paint, in London for one and in Provence for the other; both tint to order and claim quality pigments and mineral fillers.
The differences lie elsewhere: in how each house solves the washable-matt question, in coverage per litre, in the size of the colour card, in price — and in how you buy, Ressource having shops in France and Mylands an official website. That is what the table below sets side by side.
Side by side
Every line cites the figures published by the two manufacturers (official pages and data sheets); the Ressource price is the one the brand displays, the Mylands price is read live from our catalogue.
| Criterion | Mylands | Ressource |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1884, London — by John Myland, "Honest John" | 1946, Provence — Frédéric Chauvin founds the Société Provençale du Blanc Fixe, des Ocres et des Couleurs; the Ressource brand is born in 1998 with a first shop on avenue du Maine, Paris |
| Ownership | Independent family business, sixth generation of the Myland family | Independent family business, fourth generation of the Chauvin family |
| Manufacturing | One manufactory, West Norwood (London); every tin tinted to order | Workshops in Provence (southern France), "100% French" manufacturing, to order |
| Palette | 172 signature shades, including the 120 "Colours of London" and the colours of its film sets; bespoke shades possible | Over 600 shades, in collections (Ressource, Couleurs de chaux, editions with Sarah Lavoine, Serge Bensimon, Yves Klein…); over 300 wallpaper designs |
| Flagship wall finish | Marble Matt Emulsion — 3% sheen, crushed Carrara marble, breathable | Mat Poudré — 2% sheen, a powdery matt for dry rooms; Mat Essentiel — 3%, the entry level |
| Washability of the matt | Washable and scrubbable — class 1 wet-scrub resistance (EN 13300) | Mat Poudré and Mat Essentiel "washable" — cleaning to be "gentle, without rubbing" (per Ressource); for a scrubbable matt the brand points to Laque Mate (4%) or Mat Soyeux (4%) |
| Stated coverage | Up to 15 m²/L (Marble Matt Emulsion); ≈ 12 m²/L for the multi-surface finishes | 14 m²/L per coat (Mat Poudré); 15 m²/L (Mat Essentiel); 16–17 m²/L (Laque Mate, Mat Soyeux) |
| Drying (matt wall paint) | Touch-dry in 1–2 h, recoat after 3–4 h | "Fast drying"; no times given on the Mat Poudré product page |
| Other finishes | Multi-surface Dead Matt (≈ 5%), Eggshell (≈ 15%), Satin, Gloss, Floor Satin, Masonry paint, primers | Mat Plafond (2%), Laque Mate (4%), Mat Soyeux (4%), Satin Essentiel (7%), Satin Velouté (10%), Peinture Sol (20%), Laque Satinée (40%), Laque Brillante (70%), Yves Klein matts (1%), exterior range, wallpapers |
| Tin sizes | 100 ml sample pot, then 1 L, 2.5 L and 5 L depending on the finish | 0.5 L, 1 L, 2.5 L, 5 L and 10 L depending on the finish; 100 ml tester pot and hand-painted A6 sample |
| Guide price — 2.5 L of matt wall paint | €121.00 incl. VAT — Marble Matt Emulsion, on mylands.fr | No public price grid by size: the 0.5 L tin starts at €29.20 incl. VAT on ressource-peintures.com, and the brand quotes Mat Poudré "from €2.32/m² per coat" — in the region of €80 incl. VAT for 2.5 L at 14 m²/L (September 2026) |
| Samples | 100 ml sample pots (≈ 1.5 m²) from €9.50; free physical colour card | 100 ml tester pot; hand-painted A6 sample, €1.90; colour cards |
| VOCs & safety | Water-based, low VOC, meets the EN 71-3 toy standard | Water-based, A+ label; Mat Essentiel < 1 g/L VOC (per Ressource); "Couleurs de chaux" lime range |
| Where to buy in France | Online at mylands.fr, the official site — same-day dispatch before 2.30pm, delivery in 2–3 working days, free from €75 | 11 Ressource shops in France (Paris, Marseille, Lyon…) and 1 in New York, 250 stockists worldwide, ressource-peintures.com |
Ressource figures are those published by the brand on the date given and may change. Sheen levels are light-reflection reference figures from each manufacturer's data sheets. The Mylands price is read from our catalogue as you view this page.
What makes the difference
01
At Ressource the powdery matt is cleaned gently and the scrubbable matt is called Laque Mate or Mat Soyeux — two products at 4% sheen. Marble Matt Emulsion plays both parts: 3% sheen, and class 1 wet-scrub resistance (EN 13300), the top rating. A sponge over a fingermark does not burnish the surface. A bedroom, a hallway, a kitchen: one tin.
02
On mylands.fr every finish shows its price by tin size, incl. VAT, delivery free from €75: 2.5 L of Marble Matt Emulsion cost €121.00 whatever the colour. Ressource sells "from" and by the 0.5 L tin online; the price of a job is built up in the shop. Our Mylands paint prices page goes as far as cost per square metre.
03
Our emulsions contain crushed Carrara marble, and the house states that Marble Matt Emulsion carries its highest pigment load: a dense colour that lives with daylight, and up to 15 m² per litre. Made in London, in a single manufactory, since 1884.
04
A Royal Warrant granted by Elizabeth II in 1985 and renewed by Charles III; the paint of British film sets since 1928. Two references that demand tin-to-tin colour consistency — and recipes archived since the beginning.
In all honesty
Ressource is at home in France: eleven shops of its own, from Paris to Marseille, where you see large hand-painted panels, leave with your A6 sample and build the palette with an adviser. Mylands France sells online, with a free colour card and sample pots delivered to your door — a different model, without the shop window.
Over 600 colours against 172 at Mylands, and signed collections — Sarah Lavoine, Serge Bensimon, the Yves Klein blues, the Couleurs de chaux. If you are after the exact shade seen in a French interiors magazine, there is a good chance Ressource has it. Mylands bets on a shorter, edited palette inherited from London and the film studios.
Ressource makes in Provence, to order, and also publishes over 300 wallpaper designs matched to its colours. For anyone who wants to buy French or pair painted and papered walls within one range, the advantage is clear. Mylands makes in London and devotes itself to paint and wood finishes.
Deciding
Choose Mylands if you want a deep matt that is also washable in a room that gets lived in — hallway, kitchen, child's bedroom — without moving to a shinier matt lacquer, if you want a displayed price and a cost per square metre you can work out before buying, or if you like the idea of a London manufactory tinting every tin for you. Choose it too for colour drenching: the Multi-Surface Dead Matt dresses walls, woodwork and radiators in a single matt.
Choose Ressource if you want to see and buy in a shop, if you are set on a precise shade from one of its signed collections, if you are matching paint and wallpaper, or if "made in France" weighs in your decision. Either way, test before you order: a sample pot brushed onto two walls and watched morning and evening settles the question more reliably than any comparison. Torn between other houses? All our comparisons are gathered on one page.
A colour in mind?
We do not publish a table of "equivalents" between the two colour cards: Ressource colour names belong to the brand, and two different formulas never give exactly the same result under the same light. What our colour team can do is match a bespoke shade from a painted sample, a fabric or an object — a skill inherited from the film studios.
The simplest method is still to start from the colour family you love — a warm ochre, a grey-green, a deep blue — and order two or three Mylands sample pots within it. The digital colour card and the visualiser help you shortlist; the wall does the rest.
Frequently asked
Hard to settle to the cent, because Ressource publishes no price grid by tin size: its site sells "from €29.20" for the 0.5 L tin and quotes Mat Poudré from €2.32 per square metre per coat, which puts the 2.5 L tin at around €80 incl. VAT. A 2.5 L tin of Marble Matt Emulsion costs €121.00 incl. VAT on mylands.fr, delivery free from €75. The real figure to compare is cost per square metre in two coats, at near-equal coverage (15 against 14 m²/L): our Mylands paint prices page works it out for you.
By one point: 2% sheen for Mat Poudré, 3% for Marble Matt Emulsion. To the eye both are deep, reflection-free matts. The difference is in care: Ressource describes Mat Poudré as "washable", to be cleaned "gently, without rubbing", and reserves it for dry, lightly used rooms; Marble Matt Emulsion is rated class 1 washable (EN 13300). To go further into matt, Ressource offers its Yves Klein matts at 1% — exceptional finishes, for walls nobody touches.
None line for line, and that is the heart of this comparison. Ressource separates texture (Mat Poudré, Mat Essentiel: 2–3%, washable with care) from resistance (Laque Mate, Mat Soyeux: 4%, scrubbable). Marble Matt Emulsion brings both together in one tin: 3% sheen and class 1 wet-scrub resistance. If you are after the texture of Mat Poudré, compare it with Marble Matt Emulsion; if you are after the resistance of Laque Mate, compare that with Marble Matt Emulsion too.
Yes, provided you keep one brand per surface: a Mylands wall and a Ressource door sit together without difficulty, both being water-based paints. Avoid layering the two on the same substrate without a primer, and do not expect an exact colour match between two manufacturers — even under a similar colour name.
No. The Mylands paint sold on mylands.fr leaves our warehouse in Occitanie, dispatched the same day before 2.30pm, delivered in 2–3 working days, with no customs duties or surprises on arrival. Ressource makes in Provence and also ships from France. On that point the two houses are level; the difference is that Ressource also has shops to walk out of with your tin.
At mylands.fr, the brand's official site in France: order online, same-day dispatch before 2.30pm, delivery in 2–3 working days, free from €75. Our page Where to buy Mylands in France walks you through it, from samples to delivery. Also weighing up Argile, Farrow & Ball or Little Greene? We have made the same comparisons.
Mylands data: the Our paint, Find your finish and FAQ pages of this site, and this site's Marble Matt Emulsion product page (3% sheen, ≈ 15 m²/L, class 1). Ressource data: the "Notre histoire" (1946, 1998, four generations), "Choisir votre finition" (sheen levels, coverage, washable/scrubbable, Mat Essentiel VOC < 1 g/L), "Mat Poudré" (2%, 14 m²/L, gentle cleaning, A+, "from €2.32/m²/coat") and home pages ("over 600 shades", "11 shops in France, 1 in New York, 250 stockists") and colour pages ("from €29.20 incl. VAT" for 0.5 L, 0.5–10 L sizes, 100 ml tester, A6 sample) of ressource-peintures.com, consulted September 2026; Mat Poudré data sheet on archiproducts.com (2 GU at 60° and 85°, 14 m²/L). The "around €80 for 2.5 L" guide is calculated from the brand's published price per m², not observed in a shop. Ressource and its colour names are registered trademarks of their owner; Mylands France is not affiliated with Ressource.
"A comparison tells you where to look. A sample pot on your own wall tells you what to choose."
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